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The Product of the Year Awards & Buyer’s Guide are presented as a special issue in January by the Small Business Technology Magazine and our publisher, the Small Business Technology Institute (SBTI). SBTI is a non-profit organization based in San Jose, California that is dedicated to fostering technology education and adoption among small businesses through low-cost training, free consulting, events, scholarships, publishing and market intelligence. The awards program is presented in partnership with the Small Business Technology Institute Labs. There is no cost to enter a product for consideration.
Here’s more information to optimize your nomination for this year’s awards process:
Award Criteria
Award Levels
Entry Process
Judging
Eligibility
Award Criteria
The Small Business Technology Magazine Product of the Year entries are evaluated based on criteria such as:
1) Overall Fit
We’re looking for products that were built from the ground up with small businesses in mind. Our winning products address the unique functional requirements and business complexities of small businesses and are tailored to meet their unique needs.
2) Functionality & Ease of Use
Everyone knows that employees inside small businesses wear many hats, juggle many priorities and manage limited resources. We’re looking for solutions that fit seamlessly into their environment. They work right out of the box, are intuitive and extremely user friendly.
3) Quality and Breadth of Support
From integrated help menus to phone support, blogs and online training, we’re looking for the products and services that don’t leave small businesses hanging when they need help the most. Our winners provide comprehensive and reliable technical resources that help small businesses get up and running quickly and cost effectively.
4) Potential Impact on the Bottom Line
Decisions inside small businesses are geared around long term growth and financial success. Information technology is no exception. Our winning products provide a significant and measurable return by driving productivity and profitability.
5) Innovation
One of the many exciting things about technology is that new ideas come along that deliver a quantum leap in technical capabilities and business value. We’re on the lookout for the cutting edge solutions that unleash mind-bending possibilities for small businesses.
Award Levels
Top 10 Products
Finalists
Products to Watch
Entry process
Entries will be accepted August 29th until October 13, 2006.
Entries involve these required steps:
(1) complete the online entry form
(2) submit one full-license product to Small Business Technology Institute for evaluation. Products must received by our office no later than October 13th and will not be returned.
3) Upload product image and manufacturer logo when prompted in your confirmation email (300 dpi box shot or screen shot plus a company logo).
When submitting products, please include online and hard-copy documentation, any passwords and license keys that are required, and contact information for coordinating technical support and product questions. Demo versions will not be accepted unless they supplement a full license version.
If your product is a hosted service, please include instructions and all login information in your online entry form.
To ship products, documentation and sample data sets:
Small Business Technology Magazine
ATTN: Sandy Munio
84 W. Santa Clara Street
San Jose , CA 95113
(408) 494-0212 X 115
Judging
Candidates advance through several rounds of judging based on feedback from a panel of advisors comprised of analysts, instructors and a technical panel from the Small Business Technology Institute Labs. We weigh the online entry form and product feedback from the Labs team. We also consider direct feedback from small business owners, Small Business Technology Magazine readers and other industry experts.
Eligibility and Rules
The Small Business Technology Magazine Product of the Year Award program for 2006 is open to all small business technology hardware, packaged software and hosted software generally available on or before December 1, 2006 for purchase by small businesses in the U.S. Value added resellers and professional services firms are not eligible for this award program. Manufacturers outside the U.S are eligible if they comply with above requirements.
Nominations must be submitted directly by organizations and individuals involved in the original development, marketing or sales of those products. Nominations may be submitted by PR, advertising or creative agency representatives only if they are fully authorized by the company to submit the nomination on their behalf.
To be considered a complete entry, both the online entry form and a product must be submitted to the judging panel no later than Oct. 13th. Products will not be returned, however please contact us if you would like to discuss an exception.
Organizations may submit only one nomination per unique product but can nominate multiple products per organization. Do not nominate multiple versions of a product (i.e. do not nominate Product 1.0 and Product 1.5).
Nominations will only be accepted through the official online process at www.sbtechnologymagazine.org. Nomination forms will not be accepted by fax, phone or email.
Additional opportunities:
- All products entered will be included in the Small Business Technology Buyer’s Guide that accompanies our Awards Special Issue (free basic buyer's guide listing)
- Products may be permanently incorporated into SBTI Labs, a demo environment managed by the non-profit Small Business Technology Institute to expose small businesses to the hottest information technology products and services designed especially for the small enterprise. Entrants must agree to the terms of the SBTI Labs product evaluation and a signed copy of the evaluation form is required to activate the evaluation.
- Feedback will be gathered from the technical analysts at SBTI Labs on products that merit a full product review in a future issue of Small Business Technology Magazine.
Disqualification: Products and services that contain offensive material are not eligible. Organizers may disqualify entries at any time at their discretion. Contacts will be notified if special circumstances exist.
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